One of Bollywood's best-known music maestro. Naushad's first independent break was in Prem Nagar (1940) and Rattan (1944) catapulted him to the top but by Mughal-e-Azam (1960) - particularly the two songs by noted classical singer Bade Ghulam Ali Khan - he was crowned to be the greatest music director in Bollywood's history to date. Naushad was one of the first to introduce sound mixing and the separate recording of voice and music tracks in playback singing. He was the first to combine the flute and the clarinet, the sitar and mandolin. He also introduced the accordion to Bollywood film music and was among the first to concentrate on background music to extend characters' moods and dialogue through music. But perhaps his greatest contribution was to bring Indian classical music into the film medium. Meanwhile, Ankhiyaan milake jiya bharmaiyae sung by Zohrabai and the Amir Bai rendered Milke bichad gayee ankhiyaan became the most popular songs of the day. Naushad was perhaps the first musician of his time to create the echo effect in his songs. He placed the microphone in a toilet that had glazed tiles and then recorded the music and it worked. Naushad's real music was made between 1944 and 1968 when he churned out hit after hit in the films such as Shahjehan (1946), Dard (1947), Dillagi (1949), Dulari (1949), and Mehboob Khan - Anmol Ghadi (1946), Elaan (1947), Anokhi Ada (1948), Andaaz (1949) and Aan (1952) in which he was the first to use a 100-piece orchestra. Some of his other great include the Oscar-nominated Mother India (1957), which features ragas and folk music, Mughal-e-Azam (1960) which showcases the best of Urdu lyrical poetry set to music, Ganga Jamna (1961) and Mere Mehboob (1963). Naushad won just about every possible national award for his film music including the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1981. A product of the composite culture of Lucknow he also penned a book titled Aathwan Sur (The Eighth Note), a collection of his Urdu poetry. Naushad Ali was born in Lucknow, son of a munshi (court clerk) who wanted his son to follow his footsteps. But Naushad's interest in music from his childhood turned it into obsession. He moved to Bombay in 1937 and began 'living' on the pavements near the film studio in Dadar. After initial struggle his success finally came in the 1940s.